Fugitive Offenders (United States of America) Order (L.N.203 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

42/98

31

Legislative Council (Election Petition) Rules

43/98

Sessional Papers

1.No. 66-

Report by the Controller, Government Flying Service on the Administration of the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 1997

(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2.No. 67-

Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the second quarter of 1997-98
Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8

(to be presented by Secretary for the Treasury)

3.No. 68-

The Legislative Council Commission
Annual Report 1996-1997

(to be presented by the Chairman of the Commission)

II. Questions

1. Mr Ambrose LAU to ask :(Translation)

The recent cases of human beings infected with influenza A virus H5N1 (commonly known as "avian flu") in Hong Kong have aroused international concern, resulting in the cancellation of some Hong Kong-bound tours and thereby dealing a further blow to Hong Kong's tourism which is experiencing a downturn. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

any assessment has been made of the impact so far of the "avian flu" incident on the number of visitors to Hong Kong; if so, what the results of the assessment are;

it has explained, locally and overseas, to the international community the actual circumstances of "avian flu" in Hong Kong and the preventive measures adopted by the authority; and

it has plans to take more positive actions to restore the confidence of the international community in the public hygiene of Hong Kong, so as to facilitate the recovery of the tourism industry; if so, what the details are?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Economic Services
Secretary for Health and Welfare

2.Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

whether it knows the current numbers of unredeemed cake coupons sold by cake shops and video rental coupons sold by video rental shops in Hong Kong and the respective amounts of money involved;

of the protection which the consumers have in respect of the purchase and redemption of such coupons; and

whether there are any existing legislation regulating the sale and redemption of such coupons and providing for the ways of handling unredeemed coupons by the companies concerned in the event of their impending closures; if not, how the authority can safeguard the interests of consumers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

3. Mr LO Suk-ching to ask :(Translation)

The Education Department has announced a list of 100 secondary schools which may use English as the medium of teaching ("English-medium secondary schools") in the next academic year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether, in allowing a quarter of the secondary schools in Hong Kong to use English as the medium of teaching, it has assessed its negative effect on the authorities' efforts to promote the policy of mother-tongue teaching;

of the criteria adopted for assessing the need for 100 English-medium secondary schools; whether the number of English-medium secondary schools will be revised in accordance with such need, or increased when more secondary schools are capable of using English as the medium of teaching in future;

of the respective numbers of the so-called Band 1 schools among these 100 English-medium secondary schools and other secondary schools adopting mother-tongue teaching; and

whether it has any plan to implement mother-tongue teaching in all secondary schools in Hong Kong; if so, what the implementation timetable is?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education andManpower

4. Mr WONG Siu-yee to ask :(Translation)

To ensure that there will be fair, objective and balanced media coverage of the political views and activities of the candidates in this year's Legislative Council elections, will the Government inform this Council:

whether currently there is legislation to ensure that the relevant media coverage is carried out in accordance with the principles of fairness, objectivity and balanced reporting; if so, what the details are;

whether it has planned to issue guidelines to the media, requiring that their relevant coverage be carried out in compliance with the above principles;

of the role and tasks which Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) will perform in regard to the elections; and of the specific measures to ensure that the relevant RTHK's programmes are hosted by presenters who are known for their neutral stance; and

whether it has plans for setting up a mechanism for handling expeditiously complaints about unfair media coverage, with a view to completing and publishing the results of the relevant investigations as soon as possible before the election day?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

5.Ms CHOY So-yuk to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the reasons for government departments commissioning consultancy studies;

of the established criteria for government departments to assess and review the effectiveness of the work undertaken by the engaged consultancy firms;

whether there is any standing mechanism for reviewing these criteria regularly; if so, what the details are; and

whether there were cases in the past 3 years in which government departments terminated their contracts with consultancy firms on grounds of poor service quality or ineffective work; if so, of the number of such cases?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for the Treasury
Secretary for Works

6.Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask :(Translation)

Regarding accommodation for single persons, will the Government inform this Council:

of the measures in place to prevent people (including operators of "cage homes") from partitioning one flat into 11 or less small rental cubicles in an attempt to circumvent the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance; and

whether it has plans to:

increase the number of singleton hostels; and

build singleton hostels with supportive rehabilitation facilities;

if so, what the details are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

* 7. Mr CHAN Wing-chan to ask :(Translation)

With regard to the "Special Importation of Labour Scheme for the New Airport and Related Projects", will the Government inform this Council of:

the number of persons who came to work in Hong Kong under the Scheme in each of the years from 1990 to 1996; and

a breakdown of the data in respect of these persons on a yearly basis by:

sex and age;

sex and education level;

age and education level;

education level and positions held in Hong Kong; and

age and positions held in Hong Kong?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

* 8.Dr HO Chung-tai to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that some pieces of land in the West Kowloon Reclamation Area, originally reserved for municipal and social service facilities, will be taken over by the West Rail project. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether the planned municipal and social service facilities have been affected or delayed; if so, what the details are; and

how it will ensure that the municipal and social welfare facilities planned for the district will be completed as scheduled, for the enjoyment of the community?

Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Transport

* 9.Mr CHOY Kan-pui to ask :(Translation)

In early December 1997, the authority gave out blankets to street sleepers when the temperature dropped. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the total number of street sleepers and their distribution in various districts in the territory at present;

of the number of staff deployed in each district to give out blankets to street sleepers and the total number of blankets given out during that period;

whether there was a stipulation that each street sleeper should only receive one blanket;

whether the authority had received requests from non-street sleepers for blankets during that period; if so, whether such requests were granted; and

whether there were any deaths caused by the drop of temperature during that period, if so, of the number of the deceased and the number of street sleepers among them?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*10.Dr TANG Siu-tong to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

it knows that there are private housing estates which impose a higher amount of fines than that stipulated in the Road Traffic (Parking on Private Roads) Regulations for unauthorized parking on their private roads; if so, what the existing situation is;

there is any penalty for not following the Regulation and not charging the stipulated amount of fines for unauthorized parking on private roads; if not, what the reasons are; and

it has plans to step up control on private housing estates imposing fines on unauthorized parking?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Transport

*11. Mr CHAN Wing-chan to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government provide this Council with the following data in respect of the Airport Core Projects Job Centre during its operation, by job categories:

the number of registered vacancies;

the number of registered job-seekers;

the number of eligible job-seekers;

the number of persons who were given interviews;

the number of persons who were selected for employment; and

the number of persons who were not selected for employment?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

*12.Mr Henry WU to ask :(Translation)

In order to encourage and assist eligible disabled persons to pursue studies in the tertiary institutions and earn their degrees, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it knows the total number of disabled persons studying in the local tertiary institutions over the past three years, and the respective numbers of those enrolled in full-time courses and in part-time courses;

it is aware of any improvements made by the tertiary institutions to their physical facilities during the same period in order to assist disabled students in their studies and facilitate their attendance at classes; and

it has granted subsidies to the tertiary institutions for the improvement of their physical facilities for disabled students; if not, why not?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

*13. Mr LEE Kai-ming to ask : (Translation)

It has been reported that the experts commissioned to review Hong Kong's education-related executive and advisory structure indicated in their preliminary report that there are contradictions in the existing arrangement of placing the Education and Manpower Bureau in charge of both manpower and education policies, and proposed that the Government should study the issue in detail. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has any plan to split the Education and Manpower Bureau into two separate bureaux; if so, when the plan will be implemented; if not, why not; and

of the strategies adopted by the Education and Manpower Bureau to reconcile the differences between the two policy areas, and the deployment of manpower within the Bureau in order to simultaneously fulfil its duties in both policy areas?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

*14.Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask :(Translation)

In his Policy Address, the Chief Executive stated that the Government would introduce in 1998 a means test of income and assets for all prospective public housing tenants in order to ensure that public rental flats are allocated to those in genuine need. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether prospective public housing tenants include people living in temporary housing areas?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing

*15.Mrs Miriam LAU to ask :(Translation)

The Zhuhai Municipal Government recently announced that the Zhuhai Lingdingyang Bridge project had been formally approved by the State Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government had known the announcement before it was made;

of the progress made by the Hong Kong and Mainland Major Infrastructure Projects Co-ordinating Committee in its study of the project; whether the Black Point in Tuen Mun has been identified as the bridge's landing point in Hong Kong; and

how the HKSAR Government and the Zhuhai Municipal Government will co-ordinate with each other in the project?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

*16. Ms CHOY So-yuk to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the commissioning of consultancy firms to conduct studies by various government departments, will the Government inform this Council of:

the government departments which commissioned consultancy firms to conduct studies over the past three years;

a breakdown by nature of those studies and their respective numbers;

the respective highest, lowest and total amount of consultancy fees involved;

the total number of consultancy firms which have been commissioned by various government departments; the number of studies undertaken by each firm; the countries of origin of the parent companies of those firms, during the same period; and

the effectiveness of the work of those consultancy firms?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Treasury

*17.Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that recently some travel agents have only been granted renewal of their business licences for a period of less than 12 months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

the criteria adopted in determining the duration of renewed licences;

the names of the travel agents which licences have been renewed for a period of less than 12 months during the past six months and the respective duration of their renewed licences;

the reasons for renewing the licences of these travel agents for a period of less than 12 months; and

the ways of regulating the operation of these travel agents in order to protect the interests of consumers?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Trade and Industry

*18.Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask : (Translation)

The Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care published by the Government in December 1990 recommended a comprehensive review of Hong Kong's occupational health services and made seven specific recommendations to improve workers' occupational health. However, two reports published by the Occupational Safety and Health Council in December last year (namely the Report on the Study on Occupational Safety and Health Problems in Small Scale Manufacturing Industry in Hong Kong, and the Report on the Survey of Office Environment and the Occupational Health of Visual Display Terminals Users) indicated that there was a lack of knowledge and awareness of occupational safety among the employers and employees of small manufacturing establishments in Hong Kong, and the poor designs of office furniture would lead to muscle and tendon troubles for employees working on the computer for long hours. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has followed up the recommendation of the Working Party on Primary Health Care on undertaking a review; if so, which department is responsible for undertaking the review and when it has undertaken such review; and the details in respect of the results of the follow-up review, the recommendations made as a result and the progress of implementing these recommendations;

of the progress to date in the implementation of the seven specific recommendations contained in the Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care;

of the existing policies and working plans for promoting occupational health;

of the criteria adopted for assessing the actual effectiveness of existing policies and working plans for promoting occupational health; and

of the amount of funds allocated by the Government for promoting occupational health in each of the past three years?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

*19.Mr Kennedy WONG to ask : (Translation)

Recently, several South-east Asian countries have successively experienced financial turmoil, with some of their enterprises and financial institutions subjected to immense pressure or even facing financial crisis. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council whether the authority has established channels (such as information centres and homepages on the Internet) for businessmen of relevant trades in Hong Kong to learn about the latest position of these enterprises and financial institutions; if so, what the details are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services

*20.Dr YEUNG Chun-kam to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that a considerable number of companies have shifted the places of transhipment and the free on board destinations from the cargo ports in Hong Kong to those in the Mainland, thereby slowing down the growth of Hong Kong's cargo throughput. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the numbers of China-related containers transhipped through Hong Kong in each month of the past three years;

of the annual growth rate of the number of China-related containers transhipped through Hong Kong in the same period; and

of the estimated annual growth rate of the number of China-related containers transhipped through Hong Kong in each of the coming three years?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Services

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) (Amendment) Bill 1998

2. Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) (Amendment) Bill 1998

3. Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1998

4. Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Bill

5. Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) (Amendment) Bill 1998

6. Prevention of Copyright Piracy Bill

7. Hong Kong Bill of Rights (Amendment) Bill 1998

Second Reading

Debates to be adjourned

1. Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) (Amendment) Bill 1998

:

:Secretary for Transport

2. Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) (Amendment) Bill 1998

:

:Secretary for Security

3. Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1998

:

:Secretary for Security

4. Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Bill

:

:Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

5. Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) (Amendment) Bill 1998

:

:Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

6. Prevention of Copyright Piracy Bill

:

:Secretary for Trade and Industry

7. Hong Kong Bill of Rights (Amendment) Bill 1998

:

:Secretary for Home Affairs

IV. Motions

1.Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance

Secretary for Transport :

That, with effect from 1 March 1998, section 20B(1) of the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance be amended by repealing "$440" and substituting "$500".

2.Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance

Secretary for Transport :

That, with effect from 1 March 1998, section 9(1) of the Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance be amended by repealing "$440" and substituting "$500".

3.Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance

Secretary for Transport :

(See Resolution at Appendix I)

4.Legislative Provisions (Suspension of Operation) Ordinance 1997

Secretary for Home Affairs :

That pursuant to section 2(3) of the Legislative Provisions (Suspension of Operation) Ordinance 1997, the period during which subsection (1) of that section (which subsection suspends the operation of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (107 of 1997)) has effect shall be further extended to 28 February 1998 and accordingly subsection (2) of that section shall be read as if the date 28 February 1998 was substituted for the date 31 January 1998 specified in that subsection as read with the resolution made and passed by the Provisional Legislative Council under that section on 29 October 1997 (L.N. 498 of 1997).

V. Members' Motions

1.Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr Bruce LIU :

That the Maximum Scale of Election Expenses (Legislative Council) Order 1997, published as Legal Notice No. 605 of 1997 and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 7 January 1998, be amended-

in section 2(1)(a), by repealing "$1,500,000" and substituting "$750,000";

in section 2(1)(b), by repealing "$2,000,000" and substituting "$1,000,000";

in section 2(1)(c), by repealing "$2,500,000" and substituting "$1,250,000";

in section 2(2)(a), by repealing "$100,000" and substituting "$60,000";

in section 2(2)(b)(i), by repealing "$160,000" and substituting "$100,000";

in section 2(2)(b)(ii), by repealing "$320,000" and substituting "$120,000";

in section 2(2)(b)(iii), by repealing "$480,000" and substituting "$140,000";

in section 2(2)(c), by repealing "$160,000" and substituting "$100,000";

in section 2(3)(a), by repealing "$100,000" and substituting "$60,000";

in section 2(3)(b)(i), by repealing "$160,000" and substituting "$100,000";

in section 2(3)(b)(ii), by repealing "$320,000" and substituting "$120,000";

in section 2(3)(b)(iii), by repealing "$480,000" and substituting "$140,000";

in section 2(3)(c)(i), by repealing "$160,000" and substituting "$100,000";

in section 2(3)(c)(ii), by repealing "$320,000" and substituting "$120,000";

in section 2(3)(c)(iii), by repealing "$480,000" and substituting "$140,000".

Public Officer to attend: Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

2.Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr IP Kwok-him :

(See Resolution at Appendix II)

Public Officer to attend

:

Secretary for ConstitutionalAffairs

3.Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr Bruce LIU :

(See Resolution at Appendix III)

Public Officer to attend

:

Secretary for ConstitutionalAffairs

4.Liquefied petroleum gas taxi scheme

Mr Allen LEE :(Translation)

That, in order to improve the increasingly worsening air quality in Hong Kong, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously put in place a liquefied petroleum gas taxi scheme and take the lead in promoting it, as well as establishing concessionary measures to encourage the participation of taxi operators; at the same time, the Government should study how the scheme can be extended to include private cars and should bring in suitable environmentally friendly fuels for heavy vehicles.

That this Council urges the Government to implement concrete measures to bring the livestock industry back to normal operation as soon as possible and to improve the mechanisms for managing infectious diseases and imported livestock quarantine, so as to restore the confidence of local people and overseas visitors in the territory's hygiene; the effective measures to be expeditiously formulated by the Government should include:

establishing a sound and comprehensive quarantine system for the importation of livestock to ensure that they meet safe hygiene standards;

enhancing and improving the hygiene and sanitary conditions of livestock retail stalls and shops, markets and livestock farms; and

enhancing the health education of the general public and employees in the livestock industry;

this Council also urges the Government to learn from the experience in dealing with the 'avian flu' incident, so that if similar incidents occur in the future, a central control centre comprising principal government officials should be set up expeditiously to formulate and execute comprehensive emergency measures and to disseminate information to and educate the general public.

Public Officer to attend

:

Chief Secretary for Administration
Secretary for Health and Welfare
Secretary for Economic Services